I Still Awkwardly Love You
by Lightning Bolts and Pine Trees
Summary: Thalia and Nico are friends but Thalia has a secret that Nico hasn't caught onto...what will happen when Thalia's ex shows back up and Nico discovers that he's not happy with his girlfriend? Well the actual story is better sooo...NO FLAMES!
1. Chapter 1

**Ok this is something that sort of came to me last night while I was derping around on Tumblr...yeah being sick has it's perks...yes this is Thalico with hints of Nico/OC, Thaluke, Percabeth, possibly some Jasper, Caleo, Gruniper, Chrisse, and whatever else I throw in. I know all about the whole Nico thing...yes I am choosing to ignore it for this particular fic so please do not remind me...this is fanfiction you can do anything you want. Anyway let me know if you like it and if you have any suggestions...unless they happen to be flames (those will stay in your head)...please let me know when you review. Usually I ship Thaluke but I have Thalico moments...so let me know if I'm correctly portraying the ship and if you guys would like to see anything with the ship please let me know. Reviews are greatly appreciated, flames are frowned upon in this establishment however...but please review and let me know how you like it :D RawR and Enjoy.**

**P.S. I'll try to update my other fics if you read them...and I'm sorry about sounding super mean...I'm not usually like that...**

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><p>I wasn't exactly in the mood to be attending girls night that Annabeth had enacted a few years before but I did it anyway. I figured that I could sit through another night of listening to all of my friends talking about their relationships while I was still completely single. Just as I was about to walk out the door my phone rang. I answered it without looking, "Hello?"<p>

"Thals?"

"Obviously, who else would it be?" I asked.

"Well no need to bite my head off." it was Nico.

"What do you want Nico?" I asked.

"Look I have an extra ticket for Zombie Con and I don't want to go alone." Nico explained.

"You're a twenty something year old man and you're still going to Zombie Con?" I asked as I dug around for my keys.

"There is nothing wrong with Zombie Con." Nico muttered.

Finally I found my keys, "Don't you think Terra would get mad if she found out that you were going with me, your best friend, who she is convinced is the devil?"

"Please Thals, she told me to take whoever I wanted." Nico begged.

"I don't think she was accounting for me." I said as I pressed the phone to my ear with my shoulder and I dug through my purse once again for my keys and realized that I was holding them, "Besides it's girls night and I know Annabeth will probably kill me if I skipped again."

"Please Thalia, I'll cover for you if Annabeth asks." Nico begged.

"Fine I'll call Annabeth and tell her that I can't make it because you're forcing me to attend Zombie Con with you." I rolled her eyes. I didn't even like zombies...well ok maybe I did but Nico was weirdly obsessed with zombies and sometimes it scared me.

"Thank you Thals." Nico said before I hung up and had to deal with Annabeth.

"Hey Thals what's up?" Annabeth asked.

"Umm I'm not going to be able to make it because Nico managed to force me into going to Zombie Con with him." I said.

Annabeth was silent for a moment, "Thalia why do you do this to yourself?"

I sighed, "I have no clue, Terra wouldn't go with him and he begged me."

"Just don't get hurt ok?" Annabeth sighed after a moment.

I smiled slightly, "I won't Annie, I promise."

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><p>The doorbell rang and I opened it to find Nico dressed like Daryl Dixon from The Walking Dead, "Really a full costume?"<p>

Nico nodded, "Aren't you going to wear one?"

I shook my head, "No way in Hell are you going to get me to wear a costume."

"I know you have that Sexy Rick Grimes costume, I was with you when you bought it." Nico whined.

"I'm not wearing it, it was for a joke for a Halloween party last year." I rolled my eyes.

"Please Thalia." Nico begged giving me his dark puppy dog eyes.

I sighed, "Fine but I have to find it first."

I trudged up the stairs to my room and dug through my closet. I finally found the stupid costume and quickly changed into it. I hoped this would amuse him. I walked down the stairs, pulling the fabric on the skirt down as I walked, now I know why I threw this thing into the back of my closet. Once I came into Nico's view he smiled, "You look hot."

I rolled my eyes, "Shut up, we should go so we can find a parking spot."

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><p>Once downtown Nico found a parking spot that was fairly close which doesn't happen often and we walked down the sidewalk. I wrapped my coat around me a little tighter and Nico looked over at me, "Are you cold?"<p>

"Only because I'm wearing this stupid costume." I muttered.

"Do you want to grab a bite to eat?" he asked.

I shrugged, "I guess so."

We walked into our favorite little bar that had the best burgers and waited for awhile before we were seated. Nico looked over at me, "Thanks for coming out with me."

I shrugged, "I guess this is a little better than sitting through all of my friends talk about their sex and love lives."

"Why don't you try to get a boyfriend then?" Nico asked.

_Because he's dating someone who he shouldn't be, _I thought internally but answered, "I guess I haven't met the right guy."

"He'll come along." Nico shrugged when our waitress finally walked over and showed us to our table. She took our drink orders and left.

My phone buzzed and I looked to see who it was. I sighed it was Annabeth probably checking up on me. I replied quickly to her text and shoved my phone back into my jacket pocket.

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><p>Thalia and I were walking around Zombie Con, and I noticed a lot of guys were beginning to stare. I mean I couldn't exactly blame them; Thalia's costume that I told her to wear, showed a nice amount of cleavage and leg and hugged her body pretty nicely.<p>

I looked at the clock and Thalia was yawning, "Are you ready to leave?"

She shrugged, "I guess."

We headed back to my car and on the way back we bumped into someone we hadn't seen for awhile; Luke Castellan.

"Thalia is that you?" he asked.

Thalia looked at him and smiled, "Luke?"

Luke grinned, "Thalia, God it's been awhile."

Thalia smiled, "Yeah it has, how are you?"

"I'm good...oh I'm sorry am I intruding on a date?" he asked noticing me.

"Why would it matter?" I asked.

Thalia shot me a glare before turning back to Luke and smiling, "No Nico and I are just ummm friends, we came down to Zombie Con."

Luke nodded, "I can see that. Nice to see you Nico, I almost didn't recognize you."

"Nice to see you too." I muttered.

"So you wouldn't mind if I borrowed Thalia for a few hours then?" he asked smiling at Thalia.

"No be my guest we were just heading home anyway." I shrugged.

Luke offered his arm to Thalia and she took it and he smiled, "Well thanks."

They walked down the sidewalk arm in arm leaving me alone. I walked back to my car and realized that she would probably much rather spend time with Luke anyway besides Terra was probably freaking out because it was after midnight.

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><p>The next day I was at the gym with Percy when Luke walked over, "Hey guys."<p>

Percy grinned, "Hey man's what's up?"

Luke smiled, "I'm good. Hi Nico."

I nodded but continued my weight training. See I wasn't as muscular as Luke or even Percy, I was a little more lean but I did have some muscle.

"So when did you get back in town man?" Percy asked.

"Last night actually." Luke said.

Percy nodded, "That's crazy, what are you doing now?"

"I'm a professional baseball player." Luke replied, "I actually ran into Nico and Thalia last night at Zombie Con."

Percy looked over at me, "Zombie Con?"

I nodded, "I'm a Walking Dead enthusiast."

Percy looked over at Luke, "You go to Zombie Con?"

Luke nodded, "The Walking Dead is one of my favorite shows and I couldn't resist when I found out that there was one downtown."

"So what are you doing back?" Percy asked. I was going to stay quiet.

Luke shrugged, "I want to open a sports bar, I can't pitch anymore so I figured I might as well come back and open one here. Plus I wanted to see Thalia again."

"Why would you want to see Thalia again?" I asked before I could register what's going on.

Luke and Percy both looked at me kind of funny before Luke replied, "I wanted to see if we could pick up where we left off."

I didn't say anything else but Percy pulled me aside, "What the hell was that?"

I shrugged, "I don't know, me standing up for my best friend."

"You do realize that this is a chance for her to be happy right?" Percy asked.

"He broke her heart when he ran off to be a professional baseball player and I will not let that happen again!" I hissed.

Percy shook his head, "You are seriously oblivious aren't you?"

I looked at him, "What do you mean by that?"

Percy just shook his head and walked back over to Luke. I shrugged and followed him.

"So did you have a chance to talk to Thalia yet?" Percy asked.

Luke nodded, "Actually I did last night, it was nice."

That's it I couldn't take it anymore. I got up and decided to go busy myself elsewhere in the gym. I couldn't sit there and listen to them talk about Thalia. Don't ask my why but I don't think Luke deserves Thalia, I mean she was a mess when he left her to play professional baseball. I don't know what Percy meant when he told me I was oblivious but I did know that I wasn't going to let Thalia get the way she was during our senior year of college.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ok I am going to stop this before it starts...I am not ignoring the fact that Nico had...the operative word...a crush on Percy or that Nico is homosexual...I am ignoring it for the sake of the idea that I had. I personally meant no offense to anyone who took that offensively and once again I will say if you don't like the idea or the story please don't read it. I am not a homophobe either I actually have a close friend who happens to be lesbian and I know plenty of people who are and I have no problem with them. So if you guys are shallow enough to judge someone whom you don't know then by all means go ahead and do so but please keep it out of my reviews...any reviews referring to me as a homophobe or offensive towards homosexuals (gays and lesbians alike) will not be tolerated and I will personally not tolerate them because I am the kind of person who will not stand for being called something I am not. So please if you have nothing positive to say please keep it to yourself. I am not, nor will stand to be, a homophobe. I accept that people have their preferences and if you don't like my story please don't read it...but anyway I will be continuing the story and haters will just have to deal with it. Any flames will also be deleted...**

**To those of you who actually like the story and aren't just looking to nitpick on something I would like some feedback I know I'm updating pretty close after posting the story but hey if you like it please let me know...positive feedback is always greatly welcomed. :D RawR and Enjoy!**

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><p>I walked into Starbucks and waited in the line when my phone rang. I looked at it making sure that I knew who it was before I picked up. It was Luke. I answered, "Hey Luke."<p>

"Oh hey Thals." he said.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Oh I was wondering if you wanted to grab some lunch or something." he said.

I looked at the clock that was hanging behind the counter and I realized that it was closer to lunch than I thought it was, "Sure, where do you want to meet up?"

"How about we meet up in an hour at Leo and Calypso's?" he asked.

"Sounds like a plan." I found myself smiling.

"Awesome I guess I'll see you then." he replied.

"Um yeah, I'll see you then." I said before we said another round of awkward goodbyes and I hung up. I waited for another ten minutes and gave up and making the decision to head over to Leo and Calypso's since it was still a good twenty minutes from Starbucks without traffic...so I had a good forty five minute trip.

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><p>I finally pulled into the parking lot and was greeted instantly by Leo who was working on another car, "Hey Thalia, how's the Stang running?"<p>

I looked over at my mother's vintage baby blue Mustang convertible and smiled, "It's running great Leo, thanks for the work you did on it."

"I can give it a wash while you're eating if you'd like." Leo said.

"Oh you don't have to do that, I just washed it last week." I shook my head.

Leo nodded, "If you insist, Calypso just made some fresh pies."

"Oh now I don't think I'll be leaving." I smiled.

Leo chuckled, "Ha I get to live with her amazing cooking."

"Aren't you lucky?" I laughed as I pulled the door open.

"Seat yourself." it was Piper. I know that she helps out once in awhile because she was still working on opening her bakery and Jason was usually busy with his lawyerness so Piper had some free time.

"Hey Pipes." I smiled.

"Oh hey Thalia, do you want to sit at the counter?" Piper asked, knowing that I usually opted to sit at the counter.

"Actually I'm meeting someone." I smiled taking a booth by the window.

Piper smiled and placed a couple menus on the table, "And can I get you a drink?"

"I'll have a Coke."

"Make that two Cokes." Luke said from behind Piper.

Piper looked at Luke as he slid into the seat across from me and then back at me and grinned, "I'll have those right out and you can look over your menus."

She disappeared into the kitchen and left Luke and I to talk. My phone buzzed and I noticed it was a text from Nico asking me if I wanted to go see a movie with him later. I quickly replied and made sure that my phone was away.

"So I'm glad you could make it." Luke smiled.

I nodded, "I wasn't doing much anyway I'm glad you gave me something to do."

Luke smiled and grabbed my hand across the table, "There's so much we need to talk about."

I smiled but didn't know exactly what he meant by that, "Like what?"

"Well I sorta just left you without warning." he frowned, "I should have listened to you."

"About what?" I asked.

"Thals I think we should give us another try, you know I think we should pick up where we left off." Luke whispered he still had ahold of my hand he was smiling hopefully. How was I going to tell him that I was in love with someone else; someone who would never love me?

"Um pick up where exactly?" I asked my voice was kind of high.

Luke chuckled, "Where we were before I left. When I was gone all I could think about was you."

I forced a smile, "Sure, let's give it another shot."

Luke grinned, "Great, this is awesome. I never thought you'd agree to date me again."

I smiled but didn't say anything because Piper returned with our drinks and set them in front of us. Luke let go of my hand and Piper took our orders. I figured that I might as well see if my feelings for Luke would resurface and make me forget about my feelings for Nico...then again it doesn't help that I was planning on seeing him tonight after I finished with Luke.

"So are you busy Saturday?" Luke asked.

I looked at him, "No why?"

"Well I figured that since they were in town and I know that we used to love them, we could go see Coldplay in concert." Luke smiled, "They're playing at the arena Saturday night and I have tickets."

"Really?" I asked.

Luke nodded, "Yup."

"Of course I love Coldplay." I smiled.

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><p>I waited outside the theater for Thalia when she finally walked up almost five minutes late, "Where were you?"<p>

She rolled her eyes, "Trying to park my car."

"Well we have to hurry or we're going to miss the beginning of the movie." I replied.

"Why didn't you just buy the tickets while you were waiting for me then?" she asked.

I shrugged, "What are we going to see?"

"How about that new Hercules movie?" she asked.

I nodded, "I'll get the tickets and you can go get the popcorn and stuff."

Thalia headed off toward the concession stand and I got the tickets. We rushed to our theater and found seats in the back. Usually we sat in the back and criticized the movies that we went to go see unless it was one that we really did want to see.

"Eww, that's the guy from Twilight." Thalia muttered.

"Who?" I asked.

"The guy who plays Hercules plays Emmett in the Twilight Saga." she said.

"Wait I thought you thought he was hot..." I said.

Thalia laughed, "No Kellan Lutz is ok but Jackson Rathbone is way hotter."

"And he is?" I asked.

"The guy who plays Jasper." she rolled her eyes.

Halfway through the movie I got a text from Terra but I didn't attempt to check it. I was busy watching a movie and she was probably calling me to whine and complain because one of her co-workers didn't notice her new shoes. I sighed and looked over at Thalia who was watching the movie. It turned out to be better than expected but personally I wouldn't have paid what I did to see it, it was more of a movie I would've rented.

"So I'll see you later." Thalia said as we walked out of the theater.

I looked at her, "Wait you're already leaving?"

She looked at me, "Yeah why?"

"Well I thought we were going to grab some frozen yogurt." I shrugged not making it obvious that I was a little upset that she was leaving.

She frowned slightly, "Can I get a rain-check on that?"

I nodded, "Sure I guess."

"I'll pay for it." she smiled.

"Ok." I nodded.

"Thanks Nico, I'll see you later." she smiled and gave me a quick hug.

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><p>I walked into my apartment and Terra was waiting for me in the kitchen. She didn't look happy or anywhere near a good mood. She was sipping a glass of wine and looking at me as I walked in, "Where have you been?"<p>

"I was at the movies." I shrugged.

"Oh it was nice of you to ask me by the way." she snapped flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder.

"What are you mad about now?" I asked.

"You know Jenni, who I work with right?" she snapped.

I shrugged, "Sure."

"Well she's getting married and I'm still ringless." Terra snipped.

"Terra you can't rush marriage." I rolled me eyes as I dug through the fridge for a beer.

"You know what Nico, we've been dating since college and now you're saying that we're not ready to get married?" she asked.

"Terra we've only been together for three years." I rolled my eyes once again and then closed the fridge.

She made a noise that sounded like a frustrated giraffe if they made noises it would have sounded like her and she stormed out of the house grabbing her coat, purse, and keys. Well she was most likely going to be gone all night so I was alone and free to do whatever I wanted.

I sat around watching tv for awhile and then I decided that I was really bored. I called Thalia, it had been at least an hour and I figured she wasn't that busy. She was never busy.

"Hello?" she sounded out of breath.

"Hey Thals..." I began but didn't finish because I heard someone's voice in the background.

"Who is it?" the voice asked.

"I'm sorry Nico can I call you back in a little bit?" she asked. There was a sound and I could hear Thalia giggle, "Luke give me back my phone."

"Can't you tell them that you're busy?" Luke asked.

"I'm sorry Nico I'll call you back it a little bit I promise." she apologized once again and hung up on me. I sat there and continued to watch whatever I was watching on Netflix and waited for her call but it never came. She never called me back.

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><p>"Who was that?" Luke asked as I set my phone on my nightstand.<p>

"It was Nico." I shrugged.

He nodded, "Well you're mine right at this moment."

I giggled as he kissed my neck and wrapped his arms around me. Somewhere I felt a little bad about not seeing what Nico wanted but he had done that to me multiple times before so I guess it was a little justified.

"I guess I have no choice?" I asked as I kissed him softly.

Luke rested his forehead on mine and smiled, "Nope I don't think I gave you a choice."

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><p>The next morning I realized that I never called Nico back. So I snuck out to my kitchen making sure not to disturb Luke and I called Nico who answered on the first ring.<p>

"Thals." he said I could hear the smile in his voice.

"Hey I'm sorry I didn't call you back...I got a little preoccupied." I said choosing my words carefully.

"Don't sweat it I kind of figured something came up when you didn't call." he chuckled it sounded goodheartedly.

"So what did you want last night?" I asked.

"Ehh are you busy?" he asked.

"Oh I'm sorry I have plans." I said.

"Oh that's ok, you can just call me when you're free." he sounded a little defeated.

"I'm sorry Nico." I apologized again.

"Thals it's fine just call me later." he said.

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><p>Luke covered my eyes and guided me as we walked into a building where he claimed the concert was held. When we got there he uncovered my eyes and I discovered that we were the only two there.<p>

"Ta-da!" Luke smiled, "Are you ready for a Coldplay concert?" Luke asked.

I looked at him, "We're the only ones here though..."

"Exactly, it's our own private concert." Luke whispered. After a few songs they started playing Yellow, our song. Luke held out his hand and asked me if I wanted to dance. Maybe being a professional baseball player had its perks especially when he had enough money to get one of your favorite bands to play a private concert.

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><p>I agreed to meet up with Percy for lunch and to watch a little football. Did I know that Thalia was going to be there? Maybe. Did I know that Luke was going to be there? No. Did I like the fact he was there? No. Did I like the fact that the only way Terra would let me go is if she could tag along? Not really. So there I was sitting there with Terra, my girlfriend, and Thalia, the best friend who I recently realized that I liked and now she was dating her ex because I was too slow. It was pretty awkward.<p>

"Go, go, go!" Percy yelled as the running back ran down the field with the ball.

"So Terra, how have you been lately?" Annabeth asked.

Terra shrugged, "I've been ok."

"How's work?" Thalia asked.

"Don't get me started about work, everyone I work with is getting married." her face was pinched with jealousy, "All I have is a boyfriend who refuses to propose."

Thalia rolled her eyes and shook her head, "Maybe if you waited something would happen."

Terra gave her a glare and sipped her beer, "I have waited."

That's when Luke walked in and kissed Thalia's cheek, "Sorry I'm late."

Thalia smiled at him and I will admit, I was completely jealous, "It's not a problem."

Luke sat next to her and put his arm around her shoulder. Terra instantly perked up and outstretched her hand to Luke, "I'm Terra Jameson."

Luke smiled and shook her hand, "I'm Luke."

"You look familiar." Terra batted her eyelashes. Is she trying to make me jealous?

"I was a baseball player." Luke shrugged he was still looking at Thalia.

This was great; my girlfriend, who I am planning on breaking up with, was trying to make me jealous. What the heck was I going to do?! This was going to be a long and irritating football game.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry it's taken forever to update anything...I've been super busy lately with homework and babysitting and birthdays...considering mine is in a couple weeks and my brother's was Monday...so I've been pretty busy. Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter please let me know how you like this one unless its a flame...you're the one who wasted the time to read something you know you're not going to like...so keep it in your head. Sorry if this chapter does jump around a little but anyways those of you who actually read the story for enjoyment please let me know how you like it :D RawR and of course enjoy...I'm too lazy to write much more because I'm sick...yipee!**

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><p>I pulled into Thalia's driveway, Terra was pissed off at me, but hey Thalia was my partner in crime and we had these plans for a long weekend out at a supposedly haunted estate for months now. It was raining which is, according to Thalia, always a good omen when it comes to these trips. I honked the horn and Thalia came out with her favorite electric blue and black polk-a-dotted suitcase and dufflebag, for a punk rocker, Thalia seemed to love polk-a-dots.<p>

I got out quickly and popped the trunk for Thalia so she could put her things in the back and then we both wordlessly got into the car. Finally as we were turning onto the interstate I broke the silence, "So are you psyched?"

Thalia nodded, "I've been waiting for this weekend. We've been trying to get this place for how long now?"

"For awhile and finally a room opened up." I nodded.

Thalia was looking through my CD book for anything she might possibly find interesting. Finally she pulled out a My Chemical Romance CD and found the song she wanted. Teenagers was blaring through my car within a matter of seconds and Thalia was singing along to every word. She had a nice soprano singing voice, one that I found matched my tenor very nicely.

Thalia turned down the music after the song ended and then looked over at me, "Luke was a little bummed that I was going away for four days though."

I shrugged, "He'll have to get over that like Terra is going to have to do."

Thalia smiled, "That's what I told him."

"That's my girl." I smiled.

Thalia rolled her eyes, "I'm not your girl, I'm your best friend."

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><p>Twenty minutes later we were driving down the ridiculously long driveway to the estate that was now a bed and breakfast. Thalia was looking out the window snapping pictures for the annual scrap book she makes of our adventures. We finally saw the huge Victorian estate and our jaws dropped. It was at lest five stories with an attic, we could see a cellar door on the side, there was a lake with a boat shed, stables that were full of horses, and it looked like your typical bed and breakfast.<p>

"This is going to rock." Thalia muttered.

"I'll park and you go check in while I get the luggage." I said.

Thalia nodded and hopped out of the car when I pulled around to the door. I went to go park in one of the parking spaces got the luggage and walked in just as the woman was handing the key to Thalia.

"We're on the second floor, the woman said we apparently have the room with the most activity." she said.

I nodded, "Sounds like fun to me, two beds right?"

Thalia nodded, "She said there were."

We got up to our room from the grand staircase at the front of the lobby. Thalia opened the door and we looked around the room in awe, everything was like it would have been in the Victorian time when the house was being used by the original owners.

"This is going to be fun." Thalia grinned and plopped down onto one of the beds.

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><p>Later that night I was shaken awake by Thalia who looked sort of freaked out, "Nico, wake up..."<p>

I opened my eyes and replied groggily, "What?"

"I think I heard someone in the bathroom." she whispered.

I sat up and looked at her and suddenly I saw that teenager, the sixteen year old girl, who woke me up during the first time we ever did this. Her big blue eyes were large in the dim moonlit room and for a second I could see her freckles reappear and her face lose some of the maturity it had gained.

"What did you hear?" I asked her.

"I don't know it sounded like someone was moving things around in the bathroom." she whispered urgently.

"Thals you're probably hearing the house settle." I shrugged.

"I thought the reason we came here was to find ghosts?" she said.

"It is..."

"Well then get up and let's investigate this!" she whispered pulling me out of the bed as she stood up.

Soon enough Thalia and I were sitting in the dark with her camera, snapping pictures of what seemed like nothing at the time and we were using my phone to try to communicate through EVPs, I was beginning to think that Thalia's been watching too much Ghost Adventures. Finally around the time the sun was supposed to be rising Thalia conked out in the chair she was sitting in. I chuckled and snapped a picture of her and wrapped a blanket around her.

When I returned from getting breakfast at nine Thalia was beginning to wake up, I bought her some breakfast and coffee and set it on the table next to her. She looked peaceful when she was sleeping unlike Terra who always looked like her face was perpetually pinched in a sour expression. I shook her shoulder softly, "Thals it's time to get up, I brought you some breakfast."

Her eyes fluttered and she yawned slightly, "What time is it?"

"It's only nine thirty." I replied as she sat up.

"Hey did you see if we got anything last night?" she asked taking a sip of her pre-prepared coffee.

I shook my head, "No I was waiting for you to wake up."

She smiled, "You didn't have to do that, and the pictures won't show anything until I develop them."

So that's basically how Thalia and I spent our weekend; we spent it searching for EVPs and taking pictures of nothing so Thalia could develop them and see what was really going on.

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><p>Nico dropped me off at my place three days later and I set to work on developing those pictures. There wasn't really anything worth looking at until I started developing the pictures from the last two nights. In one picture there was a figure behind Nico and it appeared in a couple other pictures as well. So I'm guessing that the place had a legitimate haunting.<p>

I called up Nico to tell him what I found and when I got through to him Terra picked up the phone, "Nico's busy right now and can't talk at the moment, I'll tell him you called though."

She hung up on me before I could say anything. That struck me as odd, usually she lets Nico answer the phone. I shrugged it off and went on developing the rest of the pictures and thinking about what I was going to do for my amazing Haunted House that I put on for the trick-or-treaters. I called in Annabeth for some help and with her she brought a whole team of reinforcements.

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><p>I walked out of the donut shop with the three dozen donuts required to make this whole Haunted House thing happen and I balanced the coffee along with that. Annabeth holding a few boxes of donut-holes and muffins. There was nothing that could stop the work that was going on to make my overly large house into a kickass haunted one.<p>

"So I was thinking that we could possibly skip on the spiders this year." Annabeth said hopefully.

I shook my head, "Are you insane the kids love the spiders.

"So have you talked to Nico lately, I thought he was going to help out on this?" Annabeth asked.

"Every time I call him Terra always answers and tells me he's busy." I shrugged.

"Well it doesn't matter with Luke helping out things are going just as smoothly as they were with Nico." Annabeth shrugged.

I nodded, "You're right but Nico always helps me out."

"Well he'll come around sooner or later." Annabeth shrugged as we made sure that the donuts were secure and the coffee wasn't going to tumble off of Annabeth's lap.

* * *

><p>I walked up to Thalia's house to find everyone; Frank, Hazel, Leo, Calypso, Percy, Annabeth, Piper, Jason, Luke, Bianca, and Thalia in mid production of the Haunted House. Thalia always has me help her with it. I walked over to where she was munching on a Boston Cream donut and telling Luke and Percy how the spiderwebs were looking.<p>

"Hey when were you planning on calling me?" I asked.

She turned around, "Nico I though you were too busy to help out."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I've called like six times, Terra always keeps telling me that you're too busy to talk." Thalia explained.

"You haven't tried calling my cell?" I asked.

"I have and Terra keeps answering." Thalia said, "So are you busy or not?"

"No I'm not." I said, "I actually came over because I hadn't heard from you in awhile."

"Well you can help me with the graveyard out back, help yourself to something to eat." she said gesturing to the spread of food she had set out on her wrap around porch. I grabbed a cup of coffee and a jelly filled donut and followed her to the back of the house where she had her graveyard supplies.

"Thanks for helping out I don't think I could have handled doing this alone." Thalia said as we were putting the finishing touches on the graveyard.

I shrugged, "I'm sorry that Terra lied to you."

"Eh it's not your fault, she probably just wanted to spend some time with you." she shrugged as she wrapped some gauze around a fake corpse.

"So how have things been going with Luke?" I asked despite the fact that I didn't care.

She shrugged, "Things are ok I guess."

I nodded, "I think I'm ending it with Terra."

Thalia looked at me, "Why are you going to do that?"

"Any girl who tries to keep me away from my best friend definitely isn't worth keeping around." I shrugged.

Thalia smiled at me, "You don't have to break up with her for me."

"I've actually been thinking about it for awhile, I'm not ready to get married and she keeps pouting about not being married and well I can't take it anymore." I shrugged.

Thalia took a sip of her coffee, "So you're just going to dump her after you guys have been together this long?"

I nodded, "To be truthful I couldn't stand her when I started dating her, I just haven't been able to find the right way to break up with her."

"So you've kept yourself in this miserable relationship because you didn't know how to break up with her?" Thalia asked me.

"That's exactly what I'm saying." I nodded.

"There's something else that you're not telling me." she said looking at me with one eyebrow raised in question.

"Maybe there's someone else, but I honestly can't stand her anymore." I shrugged.

* * *

><p>When I got home that night I found the surprise of my life waiting for me. I walked through the front door because I noticed a car in my driveway. I could hear something going on in the room and sure enough I found Terra with another man. Wow this was going to make my life so much easier. Then I realized who he was, it was Luke.<p>

"What the hell Terra?!" I asked as I burst into the room trying to hide the fact that I was a little pleased. I hadn't noticed that it was Luke until he and Terra pulled apart looking like deer in the headlights.

Luke sprang out of the bed and quickly zipped his jeans, "This isn't what it looks like!"

I raised my eyebrow, "Really it isn't?"

He looked at me pleadingly, "Please don't tell Thalia about this...it won't happen again."

"Why shouldn't I tell Thalia about this?" I asked, "How long has this been going on?"

"It's none of your business Nico." Terra hissed.

"Oh but it is because I just walked in to find my girlfriend going at it with my best friend's boyfriend. So please Terra tell me how this isn't my business?" I asked.

"Nico please don't tell Thalia about this." Luke pleaded.

"Why not?" I asked, "Why should I believe you when you say that this won't happen again?"

"I love Thalia please don't tell her about this." Luke said.

"I'll have to see about that, I'm watching you Luke and you better leave before I change my mind and tell her right now." I said.

Luke scampered off like the coward he is leaving me alone with Terra who was pouting about me interrupting her little sexy time. I shook my head, "You have a week to get your shit out of my house and to stay away from me for as long as we live.

Terra opened her mouth to say something but I cut her off, "I don't want to hear it we're through."

Did it hurt that Terra was cheating on me? Kinda'. The thing that hurt the most was that I wasn't going to let Thalia know who Terra was cheating on me with. I wasn't going to make her go through the same hurt when she seemed so happy with him...but then again I was going to end up hurting her anyway. Either way she'd find out that I knew and she'd hate me so I better drink this up while it lasts.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry about this chapter being so short and uploaded so quickly after the last...but I'm glad you liked the last one or so I hope you guys did and thanks for the birday wish Elmlea :D let me know how you guys are liking this so far :D please keep flames to yourselves :D RawR and enjoy :D**

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><p>Luke walked into my house, he had been working on his sports bar and he'd been really busy lately. I wrapped my arms around him and kissed him softly, "Hey how's the bar coming along?"<p>

He smiled at me nervously, "It's going good, the renovations are almost done and we're pretty close to opening."

"Are you ok?" I asked.

He nodded and his nervous smile turned into a perfect smile, "I'm fine, just really tired."

"Oh we don't have to go to dinner tonight we can cancel the reservations and we can go some other time." I smiled.

Luke shook his head, "Nah I can go to dinner."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

He nodded, "I'm positive, I can make it through a dinner."

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><p>After dinner Luke walked in with me and I opened a bottle of wine. He smile and then grabbed my hand with his, "Thalia I know we've only been back together for a short time but we were together before that for years and I think this is justified."<p>

"Luke what are you talking about?" I asked.

He got down on one knee and pulled out a small blue box, "Thalia will you marry me?"

I looked at him and was too shocked to speak at the moment and after a moment of him staring at me expectantly I answered, "Luke don't you think that it's too soon?"

He shook his head, "I think we're just fine."

"Luke I don't know what to say..." I said.

"Then say yes." he grinned. The ring was impossibly beautiful and honestly I found it a bit overwhelming.

"Luke I...yes." I said at last.

Luke slipped the ring onto my finger and grinned, "Thank you Thalia, you've just made me the happiest man in the world."

He stood and twirled me around, "I love you Thalia."

I smiled and nodded because I had no idea what I just did. Why did I just agree to marry Luke when I know that I still clearly had feelings for Nico? After talking with Luke for a hour I said I was tired and I was going to go to bed.

"Do you want me to stay?" he asked.

"You don't have to." I said not really caring if he stayed or went.

He kissed me softly and then smiled, "I'll stay your place is closer to the bar anyway."

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><p>It had been a week since I had found out Terra had been cheating on me with Luke and I still hadn't told Thalia. Then again I hadn't heard much from Thalia since I had found out. So I met her for lunch at Leo and Calypso's. Thalia was already there and talking giddily with Calypso and Piper at the counter.<p>

"He just did, it was completely out of the blue." Thalia said.

"It's beautiful, he had to have paid a ton for one like that." Piper commented.

"So when are you guys thinking about having it?" Calypso asked.

"Having what?" I asked as I snuck up behind Thalia.

"Luke proposed." Piper smiled.

"He what?" I asked almost choking on the air I was breathing.

"He proposed." Thalia repeated.

"You guys have barely been together a month." I said.

"We were together before that for years." Thalia said sipping on her cherry Coke. I could see the ring and honestly it made me sick but if Thalia was happy I had to act like I was happy for her.

"Well congratulations." I smiled and Calypso sat a glass of Coke onto the counter for me.

"Thanks Nico it means a lot coming from you." she grinned and hugged me tightly.

I hugged her back taking in the smell of her perfume which happened to be Poison by Dior, not wanting to let go. I was too late. I knew I should have told her that night when we went to Zombie Con together. I know I should have gotten rid of Terra before that. Thalia pulled away and smiled, "Lunch is on me today."

"I can't let you do that." I shook my head.

"Nico stop, I'll pay this time." she smiled.

"I have some news of my own." I said.

She looked at me and frowned slightly, "Is something wrong?"

"I broke it off with Terra." I shrugged, "She was cheating on me."

"With who?" she asked she hugged me, "Oh Nico I'm so sorry that you had to find that out."

I shrugged, "I think it was some guy she worked with."

"Nico...I'm sorry you had to find out about that." Thalia whispered.

I hugged her tightly, "It's no big deal Thalia, you don't have to worry about it I should have noticed it a long time ago."

Thalia and enjoyed lunch but I still couldn't help but feel sick when I thought about the fact that Thalia and Luke were getting married. I didn't want her to marry Luke but she seemed happy and I know that I should be happy for her. The problem was that I loved her. I was madly in love with her and I didn't want her in the arms of someone else. Especially Luke who was cheating on her and I still had my eyes on him to make sure that he didn't do anything that would hurt Thalia.

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><p><strong>Three Months Later<strong>

I was at the Bridal Boutique looking for a dress and I took Nico with me along with Annabeth, Piper, Hazel, and Bianca. Lily was working when we got there and she squealed when she saw us, "Thalia! How can I help you?"

"I'm looking for a dress and some bridesmaids dresses." I said.

"Oh who's the lucky fellow?" Lily asked.

"Luke Castellan." I replied.

She nodded, "Well we just got in a new shipment of dresses."

So I spent my afternoon trying on dress after dress after dress and then finally I found one. It was a mermaid style dress with a black and blue sash.

"Thalia this is the dress." it was Nico, he had been quiet the whole trip.

"You really think so?" I asked.

Everyone nodded and Nico replied, "I think it looks amazing on you and...Luke would love it." he paused for some reason and it didn't make sense to me.

"I guess this is the dress." I said and Lily nodded, "It looks amazing on you."

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><p>I walked into my house again to find Terra sitting in the kitchen wearing some slutty dress, "Terra I thought I told you to stay away from me."<p>

"Nico I came to tell you that Luke's still been seeing me." she said, "Luke said he's going to leave her for me before the wedding."

"Terra why can't you just leave Thalia alone?" I asked her.

Terra grinned wickedly, "I'm not going to leave her alone simply because she always drew you away from me and now I'm going to do the same to her."

"Terra please just leave her alone, let her be happy for once." I begged her.

Terra looked at me, "Why so you can watch the girl you love slowly torture you while she loves another man. Look Nico I'm doing both of us a favor."

"Terra I swear if you do anything to hurt Thalia I will hunt you down and make sure that you never have another relationship ever again." I threatened.

"You can't stop me Nico." she smirked before walking out of the house.


	5. Chapter 5

**Ok I'm sorry if this chapter is a teensy bit explicit...there are lots of f-bombs but it's all for a reason, and I'm also sorry that this chapter is a little dramatic, thanks for the reviews on the other chapter, I'll try to update my other stuff if you're reading any of it :D, please no flames and tell me how you like it. Sorry if it seems to jump a little in this chapter and I promise things will get a little bit better in the following chapters. The rest should be a little happier. So please enjoy and RawR and please let me know how you like it unless you want to flame then please don't waste your time reading something you're not going to like in the first place. Love you guys :D and here's an extra RawR!**

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><p>"Luke is there any way that you can make it to the cake tasting today?" I asked when he walked into the kitchen.<p>

He shrugged, "I don't think so, I've been packing things and working on the bar and today I have to meet with a contractor about an estimate."

"You can't sneak away for an hour?" I asked.

He kissed the top of my head and sighed, "I don't think I can babe. Why don't you take Annabeth or Piper, I'm sure they'll be able to help you out there."

"So you really don't care why kind of cake it is?" I asked.

Luke shook his head, "As long as its not orange flavored then we'll be fine."

I sighed, "Well Piper will be the one giving me cake to sample and Annabeth's busy doing something with Percy so I guess I'll just take Piper's advice."

"I'm sorry babe, I can't make it. I'll be there for the venue and the food." He smiled.

"I'm holding you to that." I muttered.

He chuckled slightly and kissed my forehead, "I promise I'll be there."

He walked out of the room and I knew something was off about him today. There was just something that wasn't adding up, what could he possibly be meeting with a contractor for? He already had all the estimations for the bar. I shrugged and decided that maybe I should take Nico with me, he was a guy after all and I didn't want to pick out anything too girly.

About an hour later Luke kissed me goodbye and I called Nico to see if he wanted to help me with the cake. He picked up on the first ring like he usually did, "Hey Thals what do you need?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to go cake tasting with me." I said.

"What time and where?" he asked.

"Around one at Piper and Jason's." I replied.

"Sounds like a plan, why don't we just meet up for lunch then?" he suggested.

"Sure, where at?" I asked.

"I'll pick you up." He said, "Be ready in about an hour."

"Ok see you then." I said.

"Yup see you in an hour." he replied before we said another round of goodbyes and hung up.

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><p>Nico's black Maserati Spydr pulled into my driveway and he honked to let me know he was there. I met him halfway and he smiled, "Ready for lunch?"<p>

I nodded, "I'm starving."

"Good because Calypso is having a chili special." Nico grinned.

"Chili?" I asked.

Nico nodded, "Calypso makes the best chili I've ever tasted and she made some fresh French Silk pie."

"Ick, French Silk is gross." I shook my head, "It's way too sweet."

"Did I mention she made some key lime pie as well?" he asked.

"No you didn't mention that." I rolled my eyes.

"I figured you'd appreciate it." he grinned. Key lime pie was one of my favorite pies in the whole wide world. It was just so amazing that I couldn't get over how much amazingness could be packed into one tiny little pie.

We pulled up to Leo and Calypso's Garage and Diner and were greeted instantly by Calypso, "Counter or booth?"

"Booth." Nico replied.

She nodded, "Follow me."

She led us to a booth that was a little farther away from all the lunch rush chatter, "Do you need a minute or are you ready to order?"

"I actually think we're ready." Nico replied I nodded in agreement.

"Ok usual drink, Cherry Coke and Mellow Yellow, the usual fried pickles, two crocks of chili, and two cheese burgers, one Southwest style and the other Italiano style." she smiled, "Oh and for dessert I'm guessing Nico wants the French Silk and Thalia would want the Key Lime."

"Wow you know us so well Calypso." Nico smiled.

"I try, so how's the wedding planning going?" she asked me.

"It's going good, Nico and I are actually going cake tasting after this." I said.

"Piper was telling me how happy she was that you chose her to make your cake." Calypso smiled.

"Why wouldn't I have chosen her?" I laughed.

"Well I get your orders in and they should be out soon, do you want your chili with the pickles or with the burgers?" she asked.

"The pickles." Nico and I replied in unison.

* * *

><p>Cake tasting was probably, so far the best thing about planning the wedding. Piper had like seven thousand different kinds of cake and thank God Nico was there to help me because I didn't know where the hell to begin.<p>

Jason walked in with the first couple samples, "This is the citrus one, Piper told me to let you know that."

Piper smacked Jason's arm and rolled her eyes, "Ok the first one is orange with a slight almond accent to it."

"Luke doesn't want an orange cake." I said.

Piper nodded, "Well then try the lemon chiffon."

Nico and I got through the citrus cakes and nothing struck us as wedding style. Piper had Jason bring out the next flavor group, "This is the chocolate cakes."

"The first one you'll try is a dark chocolate, not too sweet but not too bitter, with a slight espresso flavor and raspberry preserves."

Nico and I both took a bite and grinned, "This is amazing."

"So you like that one?" Piper asked, "Just wait I have one more that you might like."

Jason brought out another cake, "This is a surprise cake."

Nico and I took a bite of this one and nearly died, "What is this?"

Piper grinned, "I came up with it just for you. This happens to be a key lime infused white cake with a raspberry preserve filling."

"Now you're going to have to decide." Nico said.

"I know but they're both so amazing." I groaned.

"I can always make the different layers something different." Piper added.

"Well then that's what I want you to do." I smiled.

"Now let's talk about the design of the cake." Piper smiled she had a sketch pad out in front of her.

"Ok I was thinking maybe a three or four tiered cake, the color theme of the wedding is black and electric blue, I don't want a completely traditional cake, I want something different and of course the cake toppers Luke insists that the groom must be a baseball player." I said.

"So you're letting me handle the design but the cake topper must have a baseball player groom?" she asked.

I nodded, "Insane right?"

"Not so much, Percy and Annabeth's cake toppers were mermaids." Piper added. Jason was sitting next to her wearing an apron that read Kiss the Cook.

"Oh yeah that was definitely Percy's request." I laughed.

* * *

><p>I decided to go over to Luke's after the day's events and I that was something that I instantly regretted. Why? Well turns out I was about to find out something about my fiance. I didn't see his car so I went up anyway and figured I could surprise him. I walked through the front door and what's the first thing I see? Well if you guessed my fiance and my best friend's ex-girlfriend Terra going at it on the couch then you guessed correctly.<p>

"Luke?" I asked tears were beginning to sting my eyes. I didn't want to believe this.

He sprung away from Terra as if she were a snake about to strike, "Thals this isn't what it looks like."

"What the hell Luke, you're cheating on me again?!" I asked.

Terra looked like a cornered animal who had nowhere to run. Luke began to walk towards me but I shook my head, "Don't come near me."

"Thalia just listen to me." he begged.

"So you can justify why you're cheating on me?" I asked.

"Thalia please." he begged.

I shook my head, "You've got to be fucking kidding me! It's over Luke, the wedding's off, I really hope she was worth the trouble."

"Thalia please be reasonable." Luke chided.

"Don't chide me. What's there to be reasonable about, you're fucking cheating on me! How long has this been going on?" I asked.

"Nico knew about it why didn't he just tell you?" Terra asked.

"Nico knew?" I asked.

"He didn't tell you because I begged him not to." Luke muttered.

I couldn't take it anymore. I turned and I ran ignoring all of his pleas to come back and talk to him. I went to the park the one place I could think and I didn't care at the time that it was pouring rain. I really didn't. I walked around in the pouring rain until I got to my favorite spot in the park. I slid down and buried my face into my knees and sobbed. I ignored the fact that my phone was ringing and cried. I cried until there were no tears left to cry and I finally got up and decided that I was done crying.

* * *

><p>"You've reached Thalia's voicemail so just leave a message with your name and possibly your number and I'll try to get back to you when I can. Here's your cue, leave your message after the...*beep*." I sighed this was the seventh time today that I've gotten her voicemail. She usually answers me.<p>

So I decided to pay her a visit because I was worried about her. She hadn't called, she hasn't answered her phone, and usually she texts me every day. I pulled into her driveway and find the door unlocked, "Thalia you in here?"

"Go away I don't want to talk to you!" she called from the kitchen.

"Then why'd you leave the door unlocked?" I asked.

"I don't know!" she replied.

I walked in and closed the door behind me. She was in the kitchen sitting at the island with a glass of wine, pictures of her and Luke, a phone book, and some Chinese.

"What's all this?" I asked as I looked at the phone book that was opened to the number for Katie Stoll's Floral business.

"The wedding's off he was cheating on me." she shrugged.

"Thals I'm sorry." I whispered.

"Oh it's not like you didn't know about it." she glared at me.

Suddenly I felt a little guilty, it's just that she seemed so happy to be marrying Luke. Something about her engagement made her so happy that I didn't want to see her hurt and I guess I ultimately would see her hurt in the end even if I didn't tell her because sooner or later she was bound to find out that Luke was cheating.

"I'm sorry Thalia I should have told you." I whispered.

"Well if you didn't already know Terra was cheating on you with Luke." there was a teary edge to her voice and I couldn't take it.

"Thals he's not worth crying over." I whispered.

She looked at me, "Why didn't you fucking tell me he was cheating on me with Terra?"

"Thals I'm sorry, I should have told you but you looked so happy that I didn't want to see you go through anymore pain than you've already been through. I didn't want you to end up like you did in college because you tried to OD on something and get your stomach pumped." I whispered.

She shook her head and laughed bitterly, "You didn't want to see me hurt?"

"Thals please..."

"Nico I've been fucking broken since we were five! There's nothing that anyone can to do put me together again! I'm not worth anyone's time and you know you and Luke have made that clear to me now. I'm the broken china doll that no one wants to put back together because I'm so far past shattered that there's nothing anyone can do to fix me. I'm so fucking broken that swallowing a bottle of pills or trying to hang myself doesn't even work!" she screamed.

"Thalia there's nothing wrong with you!" I yelled back.

She glared at me, "Nico my own mother couldn't even effing love me!"

"Well your mother's an idiot. There's nothing wrong with you, you're not shattered, you're not broken, you're not even bent." I said. I was angry at her for even thinking the things that she was thinking.

"What the hell are you trying sell diAngelo? I'm broken, no one wants the broken China doll." there were tears in her eyes.

"Thalia you're fucking amazing. I was an idiot to not realize that you were the one I really loved. Luke was an idiot for doing what he did because if I had a girl like you I would've grabbed on and never even thought of letting go. Your mother was an idiot for not seeing how amazing her daughter was. Thalia what I'm saying here is there are so many people who love you, me included. Think about all those people you'd hurt if you tried to take your life again." I said softly but firmly as I grabbed her chin and made her look into my eyes.

She looked at me with her blue eyes so full of tears that all I could remember was the first time she had ever tried to commit suicide. Yes Thalia had tried several times in the past and no one had ever know why she had ever tried to. She always seemed so happy and now I was getting the full truth.

"Why would anyone want to love someone so danger prone? Someone so brittle?" Thalia whispered, the tears were streaming down her face and mixing with the stains of mascara and eyeliner.

"Do you want to know why someone would love you Thalia?" I asked she didn't say anything she just looked at me so I continued, "Someone would want to love you because you're amazing and beautiful and one of the only people on the planet willing to put their needs behind the needs of someone else and you know what I was a jerk who took you for granted and dated all these other bitches who never loved me the way you did. I was so stupid not to realize that you were the one I truly loved all those years ago, all the times I stayed at the hospitals to make sure that you were alive, all the times I didn't see that I was half of the cause of your pain Thalia. I love you so fucking much that when I saw that you were happy with Luke and I knew what I did, I didn't want to see you hurt and I wanted to see you happy so I didn't tell you. I wanted you to be happy even if it was at my expense just like what you had done for so many years for me. Look at Annabeth, Annabeth loves you. You're like her sister, and she couldn't stand to see you in the hospital again. Jason, your brother loves you so much. He's always been there for you when you needed him. Piper, Percy, Hazel, Frank, Leo, Calypso, they all come to you because they love you. Thalia don't base your life on the fact that there were a few idiots who couldn't see you for what you truly are."

She looked at me and sobbed, "What's that then?"

"That would be fucking amazing Thalia, you're fucking amazing." I whispered as I held her close and allowed her to sob into my chest. I picked her up and carried her to the couch and allowed her to cry until she tired herself out from all the crying.

Finally after the torrents of tears and sobs she finally fell into a tear induced coma. I set her down and draped a blanket over her before going to call Annabeth.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Annabeth it's Nico." I said.

"Oh hi Nico, have you heard from Thalia lately?" she asked she was sounding worried.

"Um that's what I called about..." I trailed off.

"Oh God no she didn't kill herself did she?!" Annabeth sounded like she was in a complete state of panic.

"No but I think I talked her out of it. I finally found out why she tried all those times in the past." I said.

"I don't want to know until I get there." Annabeth said and with that the line went dead. Some how I knew Annabeth was already on her way over to see Thalia anyway. So I wasn't that surprised when the doorbell rang ten minutes later and Annabeth walked in.

She saw Thalia sleeping on the couch and smiled slightly, "Do you know why she hasn't answered any calls?"

I nodded, "Luke cheated on her, the wedding's off. She's been pretty messed up for a long time."

"Nico I just don't want to see her hurting anymore." Annabeth whispered.

I nodded, "I know I'm not going to let that happen anymore. I'm going to take care of her."

"How are you going to do that?" Annabeth asked.

"I'm going to give her the love she actually deserves." I whispered.

Annabeth looked at me a bit unsure with my idea, "What do you mean by that?"

"Thalia confessed some stuff tonight and I think she needs the love that she's deserved for a long time from people who aren't going to hurt her. I'm going to make it up to her for things I did, but you need to just keep doing what you've been doing for her." I explained.

Annabeth nodded, "Did she try to..."

I shook my head, "I think she would have if one of us didn't come along."

Annabeth nodded, "Thanks Nico, but please don't hurt her."

"I won't." I promised. That was one hell of a promise that I was willing to keep.

"Tell her not to worry about cancelling all the wedding stuff, I'll take care of it." Annabeth said.

I nodded, "I will."

"Tell her to call me or something when she wakes up."

"I will." I promised.

"Thanks Nico." Annabeth smiled before going out to her car. I looked back over at Thalia who was still sleeping and I decided to sleep on the ground next to the couch so I could keep an eye on her. I kissed her forehead softly causing her to stir slightly and then I drifted off to sleep. I was determined now to prove to Thalia that she wasn't broken and people did want her, I never wanted to see her like this again and so help me God if I had the choice to do something about it I was going to do something about it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks for the reviews on the other chapters, this is unfortunately the last chapter for this...once you get to the end you'll find a surprise waiting for you but I'm not giving it away...*cough* possible ****sequel *cough*, but I hope you guys really enjoy this chapter and I'll try to keep the surprise contained...but let me know how you like the ending and if you have suggestions for the maybe sequel then by all means please let me know, PM or put it in the review...no flames...I'm getting tired of saying that. Anyway RawR and enjoy and let me know what you think of the ending and if you want anything put in the maybe sequel (I'm not giving anything away but there might be a lot of cake in the maybe sequel) (Wow I'm terrible at keeping secrets) so please by all means give me your suggestions but please don't flame! :D love ya!~RawR**

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><p>I woke up the next morning with a fuzzy memory of the previous night's events. All I could remember was I did a lot of crying, I found out that Luke was cheating on me with Terra, the wedding was called off, and I remembered thinking about suicide. Yeah I've tried to commit suicide several times before and I think I finally divulged why I did it last night to Nico.<p>

I sighed and sat up and was about to put my feet on the ground when I realized that there was something squishy under me. I looked down to find Nico who's eyes fluttered and he looked up at me, "Thals?"

"Yeah." I whispered. My voice was small and hoarse and I didn't understand why, "Why is my throat so soar?"

Nico sat up and climbed onto the couch, "You did a lot of yelling last night. I think it was necessary for you to do the yelling you did."

"What exactly did I tell you last night?" I asked.

"You confessed a lot of things but mostly you cried and yelled about how life wasn't fair. To be honest I agree with you, life is unfair. The thing is Thalia you need to find someone to hold you and help you through times when you feel like this." he whispered.

"What do you mean by find someone to hold me through those times?" I asked him, "Wait you slept on the floor the whole night?"

Nico smiled sheepishly, "Umm I did, I was a little worried about you. Annabeth stopped by last night after you fell asleep and she wants you to call her or something."

I nodded and yawned, "I'm sorry you had to see that last night."

Nico shook his head, "I think it was something I had to see. Thals you're not alone or unloved." he whispered.

I didn't say anything but Nico pulled me onto his lap and wrapped his arms around me. I could vaguely remember him doing something like this last night with me. I nuzzled my head in the crook of his neck and hugged him tightly. Nico kissed the top of my head and whispered, "I love you Thalia."

I didn't say anything instead I just hugged him tighter if that was even possible. Nico and I stayed like that on the couch for a little bit and then I finally decided that I should get on with my life and start working on cancelling this wedding.

I wriggled out of Nico's grip and started toward the kitchen. Nico followed me which I sort of regretted. I know that now I admitted some things that Nico wouldn't want me out of his sight but I guess it was for the best and I shouldn't be so bitter about things. It wasn't like I ever told him about my feelings for him. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my neck, "What are you doing?"

"I have a wedding to cancel, there's no point in waiting and then confusing everyone." I shrugged.

"Thalia you don't have to start worrying about that right at this moment." he whispered, "Annabeth said that she'd handle that."

I shook my head, "This is something I want to do, you know it'll make me feel better."

Nico was quiet for a moment and then he replied, "Fine but if you need someone to talk to, Annabeth is always there, I'm sure as hell not going anywhere, and there are plenty of others to talk to."

I laughed slightly, "Nico you don't have to worry so much about me."

Nico looked at me doubtfully, "Thalia I had to talk you out of taking your life...are you sure that I don't need to worry about you?"

I smiled, "I promise, I'll learn how to deal with my issues in a healthier way."

Nico smiled, "Ok but I'm going to be there better than I was in the past."

I looked at him, "Nico...are you only doing this because of last night?"

Nico looked at me, "Thalia you were a mess last night but no, this isn't just because of last night."

"Look I'm fine now, I've had a week and I'll admit that you saw me in one of my lowest times but I'm getting over him." I whispered.

Nico turned me around in his arms and rested his forehead on mine, "Thalia there's something I've been meaning to tell you..."

"Don't tell me right now." I whispered.

Nico nodded, "Fine I'll tell you in an hour."

I smiled at him and hugged him tightly, "Why don't we go do something today?"

He looked at me and smiled, "How about we go get some breakfast at your favorite place in the whole wide world?"

"Are you suggesting that it's ok to have pie for breakfast?" I asked.

Nico chuckled, "When has it never been ok to have pie for breakfast."

* * *

><p>Once at Leo and Calypso's Nico and I got a booth away from all the people who were already there. Well I guess it would make sense since it was a Saturday and this place was always busy. Piper walked over with a smile on her face, "Hey I'm guessing you two want pie for breakfast."<p>

Nico nodded, "What kinds are there today?"

"Well there's a new pie that Calypso created just for the two of you because she knows that you two aren't traditional breakfast eaters." Piper smiled.

"What would that be?" Nico asked.

"Well it's more like a breakfast pot pie if you will, but it's really good and I've tried it and I have one at home in the fridge." Piper smiled.

Nico nodded, "Keep talking."

"Well it a crispy flaky crust, there's bacon or sausage depending on which one you order, its in a cheese sauce, there's scrambled eggs, and tomatoes." Piper explained, "We're giving each of our customers a free sample piece today."

"Well then we'll try that and have two pieces of blueberry pie ready for us." Nico smiled.

"Coffee or juice?" she asked.

"I want coffee, just straight up regular black coffee." Nico said.

"I'll do coffee with lots of sugar and cream." I smiled.

Piper nodded, "Ok I'll be right out with your order, this shouldn't take long."

Nico smiled at me, "I think we need to go on vacation for a little bit, you can take pictures for your new job and it'll be fun."

I had gotten a new job at one of the biggest travel magazines in the business and I had my own column where I could write about whatever I wanted and it had amazing pay. So in the aspect of a job I was pretty set.

"Well where did you plan on going?" I asked.

"Mexico, we could go to Hawaii, there's always California or Texas or New Orleans." Nico shrugged.

"Hawaii sounds like fun." I smiled.

"Then Hawaii it is." Nico grinned, "Besides you always promised you'd teach me how to surf."

"I did didn't I." I smiled.

* * *

><p>Thalia and I walked up to her house after a long day of me distracting her from thinking too much. She was still hurt and I was determined to change that. I was going to take her to Hawaii to get her mind off things, to chill out a little.<p>

She smiled at me, "Umm do you want some wine?"

"Sure." I shrugged. Thalia nodded and pulled two blue wine glasses off of the glass rack she had hanging over the sink. She poured the red wine into the glasses and handed one to me taking one for herself. She took a long sip before setting it on the counter.

"Do you want to get away?" I asked her.

She looked at me, "Like now?"

I nodded, "We could go back to that bed and breakfast that we stayed at."

"The haunted one?" she asked with a slight smile.

I nodded, "That exact one, just you and me for three days, no cell phones, nothing but relaxation."

Thalia smiled, "Sure but don't you have to have reservations like months in advance?"

I smiled, "I have my ways. Go pack and then we'll hit my place before we go."

Thalia smiled and shook her head, "You're always full of surprises aren't you Nico?"

I nodded, "Oh you don't know all of the surprises Thalia."

Thalia smiled and hugged me before she went to go pack. I called the place and they suggested another bed and breakfast to me, not much farther down the road from it. So I went ahead and booked with the other place and Thalia was ready, packed and she looked amazing.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Well the one was booked so they gave me the name of another one that wasn't so haunted." I explained.

She nodded, "Sounds like a plan."

"Well let's go get my stuff and then we'll hit the road." I smiled.

* * *

><p>We got to the bed and breakfast a little late but they still checked us in and we had a room on the third floor. It was a nice place but the problem was there was only one bed in the room and I didn't know what Thalia would want to do about that.<p>

"There's only one bed, what do you want to do?" I asked.

She shrugged, "Doesn't matter to me."

"Ok then it looks like we're sharing a bed because I really don't want to sleep on the floor again." I shrugged.

Thalia nodded, "Sounds like a plan."

She yawned and plopped down on the bed making sure that she was comfortable and she was asleep almost as soon as her face hit the pillow. I smiled to myself, she looked so peaceful when she was asleep. I sighed and settled into the bed myself, making sure to keep a little distance between Thalia and I. I made sure that she was covered with the blanket and smiled slightly to myself. About twenty minutes of me laying there wide awake Thalia rolled over and lazily draped her arm over my stomach and rested her head on my chest.

The next morning I awoke to Thalia poking me slightly, "Nico wake up."

My eyes fluttered and they focused on Thalia's amazing blue eyes, "Morning."

She grinned, "Morning Sleeping Beauty."

"How did you sleep?" I asked her.

She shrugged, "Good I guess, you're really cold though."

I smiled at her and brushed her bangs out of her eyes, "Thalia you're too warm."

She shrugged, "That's contradicting isn't it?"

"So what are you wanting to do today?" I asked her.

"Well what is there to do?" she asked, "We could walk around downtown and I can take pictures."

I grinned, "That sounds perfect, I can make some reservations for lunch or dinner or something."

Thalia nodded, "Sounds like a plan then...are you ready for some breakfast?"

"Yeah." I nodded.

Thalia sat up and I followed suit, "I'll call for something and then we can get ready for whatever we want to do."

I nodded, "Sounds like a plan, order me pancakes or something."

"I have a feeling it's whatever they feel like serving is whatever we'll be getting." Thalia shrugged, "But I guess I can try."

I nodded, "I'm going to take a shower, it looks to me like you've already done so."

Thalia laughed, "You slept in and I wasn't going to just sit there and watch you sleep dork, I'm not Edward Cullen."

I laughed, "I'll be out in ten minutes."

"Take you time by all means, the room service probably won't be here for for five minutes." Thalia shrugged looking through the menu in the desk drawer and picking up the old fashioned phone.

* * *

><p>Nico and I spent most of our weekend in the town and I hadn't bothered to look at my phone even once. There was too much to do for me to be constantly worrying about my phone and who called and who I'd have to call back. I liked the idea of a relaxing weekend and I owed Nico so much for what he's been doing for the past five or so days. I know it wasn't easy for him to find out why I've tried killing myself in the past but I guess it was something that needed to happen for the both of us.<p>

Nico and I walked through the little park that wasn't too far from where we were staying. It reminded me of the park back home and the memories from the park brought a smile to my face. We stopped for a second and looked out at the pond where the ducks, geese, and swans were swimming. He smiled and grabbed my hand, "Thalia there's something I want to talk to you about."

I looked at him and raised my eyebrows, "What would that be?"

"Look I know you just got out of a bad engagement but I was thinking if you'd let me be the one who loved you the way you thought Luke loved you. I completely understand if you're not ready for a relationship because I will wait if I have to. I just want you to know that I'm here to stay and I'm not going to leave you." he whispered.

I smiled at him, "Nico..."

"Just consider the idea Thals." he whispered.

"Nico there's nothing to consider, I want you to be the one who loves me the way I thought Luke did. I only started dating Luke hoping that past feelings for him would resurface, which they did, but they didn't completely mask my feelings for you. Yeah I know I was using him and all but he cheated..."

Nico grabbed my face and kissed me. I'm not talking about some shy peck that a teenage boy would give after he tells a girl he loves her. I'm talking about the kind of kiss that makes your vision go fuzzy and your brain go mushy. His arm slowly slipped around me until one hand was resting on the small of my back and other was still on my cheek. I stood on my tip-toes and pulled him closer to me.

Sadly after what seemed like an eternity we had to break for some air. Nico grinned at me, "I love you Thalia Grace."

I smiled, "I love you too Nico diAngelo." but I barely got the words out of my mouth because he kissed me again.

"I still awkwardly love you Thalia Grace." he whispered resting his forehead on mine.

"You still awkwardly love me?" I asked.

"Yes I do," he whispered, "I've always awkwardly loved you."

I smiled, "I think I've gotten that."

"I can't say it enough to make it up to you." he whispered.

"You can't?" I asked.

"No I will always awkwardly love you." he whispered, "The feeling you give me makes me feel like an awkward teenage boy trying to tell the girl he likes that he likes her. It's an awkward, but amazing, love and it's never going away."

I smiled, "I'll hold you to that then."

"I know you would babe." he whispered.

"Babe?" I asked.

He shrugged, "I was trying it out...not good huh?"

I laughed, "Nope that pet name never really struck my fancy."

Nico smiled, the skin around his prismatic dark eyes crinkled, "I love you so much."

"I know you do." I whispered.

"God I can't believe this is finally happening." he whispered.

I didn't say another word. I just pulled him into a kiss and poured every ounce of passion into it that I contained in my body. Nico froze for a second but kissed me back softly and then he turned up the intensity. I didn't see myself going anywhere but here. Why? Because I, as Nico likes to put it, awkwardly love him as well.

"I still awkwardly love you." I whispered, "It has a nice ring to it."

Nico smiled, "I still awkwardly love you too Thals."

"Then it's mutual, we still awkwardly love each other." I smiled and he laughed.

* * *

><p>Do you think this is where the story ends? Well I'm happy for you but unfortunately it doesn't end here. I wish it did but hey life and awkward love isn't that easy, especially when you have to estranged exes trying to find ways to split you up...but that's for another story. So I'll leave you here to think and contemplate what might happen after all the 'I still awkwardly love yous' and whatnot. Maybe we'll be back to tell you the rest of the story, but for now we'll leave you here to contemplate and think because hey, no one's story ever ends with a perfect happy ending...haven't you all read The Fault in Our Stars? So goodbye for now...<p> 


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